By Marlon Munroe
With the Inter-County four day title virtually in their grasp, and having won all their matches, Berbice will be looking for a clean sweep when play resumes today, the final day of their Inter-County clash against Demerara.
They will resume at the Everest Cricket Club ground this morning needing 237 more runs for an outright win with all of their second innings wickets intact.
Wicketkeeper Delbert Hicks and Arthley Bailey were not out on 19 and 14 respectively.
Yesterday, Rajendra Chandrika and Christopher Barnwell fell short of centuries as Demerara, after overhauling a deficit of 53 first innings runs, were dismissed for 334 from 99.5 overs some 45 minutes before the close.
Chandrika scored 85 and Barnwell 83 as left arm orthodox spinner Veerasammy Permaul grabbed 5-98 from his 37 overs, his third five wicket haul of the tournament.
Dormer resumed on 119 without loss and Barnwell, overnight on 69, was caught by Berbice captain Assad Fudadin at the solitary slip position to break a 145-run first wicket stand.
His overnight partner Chandrika (36), who had looked set to equal Leonard Baichan’s record of registering two centuries in a match, fell when the score was 209 after seeing the backs of Krishna Deosarran (3), Gajanand Singh (12) and Leon Johnson (7).
The Demerara batsmen tried to delay the inevitable with stern resistance from Steven Jacobs (24), captain Zaheer Mohammed (26) and Troy Gonsalves (40) down the order. Permaul, who took stick from Barnwell on the second day, was the most successful bowler.